


Earthly

by Violsva



Category: Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle
Genre: Gen, The Science of Deduction, Watson's Woes July Writing Prompts 2016
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-04
Updated: 2016-08-04
Packaged: 2018-07-29 05:32:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7672003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Violsva/pseuds/Violsva
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The right and wrong of one's way of doing things are found in trivial matters. - Yamamoto Tsunetomo</p>
            </blockquote>





	Earthly

**Author's Note:**

> Late fill for Watson's Woes [July Writing Prompt #26](http://watsons-woes.livejournal.com/1610349.html).

Perhaps the most useful substance for the detective is the one least regarded as such: mud.

Not only the colour and composition of the mud itself, but the pattern of its splatters, the marks made by its removal, the long term effects of its presence on cloth and leather. Mud can tell you not just where someone has been, but how they got there and how long they stayed. If I had time to perform a chemical analysis on the boots of our visitors at Baker Street I could amaze them far more than I do already. As it is, the only man who gets to see much of this aspect of detection is Watson (and the inspectors of Scotland Yard, but I have largely given up on holding their interest long enough for an explanation).

This is what others don’t see about my methods - they have nothing to do with wild theories, and very little with sudden insights. What matters is the collection and piecing together of the sort of details that otherwise pass unnoticed: a hair, a thread, a scrap of paper, a clod of dirt.


End file.
